Population growth in congested urban centers is leading to a continuously growing vehicle density, and to a correspondingly rising demand for parking and transport areas that can only be satisfied on a limited available space at ever greater costs. In order to keep land usage and fuel consumption by private transport within reasonable limits, extremely compact vehicles with a low weight and correspondingly low fuel consumption must be more-readily available.
One way of minimizing weight involves no longer manufacturing parts of a motor vehicle body that have no supporting or passenger compartment-reinforcing function out of metal, but rather out of plastic. For example, DE 10 2010 054 693 A1 discloses a floor module for a motor vehicle that encompasses a base trough injection molded out of plastic as a single piece.
The trough must be stiff enough to support a vehicle battery and spare tire. If it is made stiffer, however, the greater the danger that it will break when deformed in an accident, and then has to be replaced. In the known floor module, the danger of such breakage is limited by the fact that it does not reach directly up to a rear cross member of the vehicle body, so that the latter can be deformed during an accident without also affecting the floor module. In an extremely compact urban vehicle, it is virtually impossible to secure a floor module far enough away from the outer skin of the body as to keep it from deforming and breaking during a minor accident. However, if the floor module is broken, it must be removed and replaced with a new one. The high repair costs associated therewith can result in an unfavorable classification of the vehicle at insurance companies, and thus lead to correspondingly operating costs for the vehicle owner.
Therefore, there exists a demand for a motor vehicle or components for the latter that minimize the repair expenses after an accident, even given a compact and weight-saving construction.